Comparative Study of Performance of Middle and Junior Secondary School Leavers Farming in North Tongu District, Volta Region, Ghana

Abstract

The Study on Basic School Agriculture outcomes was conducted in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region of Ghana from May to June 1998. The main objective of the study is to compare the impact of the differences in the Middle School and Junior Secondary School Agriculture programmes on the performance of the graduates in farming. The Middle School Agriculture programme was vocational/practical without teaching or learning of theoretical knowledge while the Junior Secondary School Agriculture Programme was academic-vocational (Integrated). Specifically, the study compares and explains the differences between Middle School and Junior Secondary School leavers by: age, gender and marital status, use of school-based agricultural knowledge in home farming while in school, levels of agricultural knowledge, ranking of factors influencing the choice of farming, ranking aims for farming, utilisation of formal agricultural knowledge in farming, achievements from farming, security in life and the needs of the respondents in farming. The survey research methodology was employed. With a personal interview schedule, the snowball non probability sampling technique was used to gather information from the Middle School and Junior Secondary School graduates farming in the North Tongu District. With questionnaires, stratified random sampling was used to collect information from Agricultural Extension Agents, Junior Secondary School Agriculture Teachers, District Director of Agriculture and District Agricultural Education Officer. The Statistical Package for the Social Scientist (SPSS) was used to analyse the data. The performance of the farmers was compared using the following statistics: percentages, rank scores, The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test and The Kendall Coefficient of Concordance. The study shows that Junior Secondary School graduates are better farmers than Middle School leavers in the North Tongu District because their performance is related to the type of Agricultural Education programme they pursued. Junior Secondary school graduates tend to be more independent, think and act abstractly in selecting farming practices that have abstract advantages while Middle School leavers appear to be more dependent and select yield optimising practices with easily observable advantages. The performance of the Junior Secondary School graduates is explained by their use of school-based agricultural knowledge in home farming while in school, ranking of school training as a factor influencing the choice of farming, ranking of aims in farming, ranking of crop yield optimisation practices and attainment of higher tangible achievements from farming. A similar performance is observed on the basis of gender. However, the perceived levels of security in life and needs of the respondents have not been explained by the differences in the Basic School Agriculture programmes they pursued. The study provides information on the study of Basic School Agriculture outcomes and the intervening factors in the utilization of formal agricultural knowledge for farming.